Patna: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Nalanda, the home district of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a BJP leader said Sunday.

"There is a possibility that Modi would contest the Lok Sabha election from Nalanda," Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president CP Thakur told the media.

A former union minister, Thakur said that party leaders from Bihar had requested Modi to be the Nalanda candidate and they were "hopeful" that he will agree. He said the state BJP had launched a campaign against Nitish Kumar from his home turf Nalanda.

The ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U), which has ended its alliance with the BJP, said Modi was welcome to contest from Bihar but asked if this meant that he was not sure of winning from Gujarat.

JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the BJP was free to field any candidate including Modi from Nalanda. "The JD-U is not afraid of any BJP candidate, be it Modi or anyone else," he said.